OG Venice Travel Guide is delighted to host this article on behalf of Foody, a local startup founded by a small team of young Italian entrepreneurs who have created a platform, www.foodyexperience.com, that allows both Italian and foreign travelers to experience local culture through eating local foods and getting to know the cooks who prepare it. We're not sure what we love more about this... Is it the concept of the fun and authentic interaction that travelers can have with locals over a plate of local food? Is it that we're so excited to support these local entrepreneurs with their mission to connect travelers with positive experiences of Venice? Are we just hungry and thirsty? Either way, OG Venice wishes all the best of Elena and Michele and looks forward to many many more Foody Experiences!

This is the story of a Foody Experience in Venice:

On 16th of May two Venetian cooks, Cecilia and Daniela opened the doors of their lovely house in Rialto, at the centre of the living room was a big table full of ingredients for cicchetti - Venetian tapas. A group of 16 Americans from the State of Iowa were invited in to learn about, prepare and eat local Venetian food together with these two Venetian foodies.

Cecilia and Daniela first explained the origin of bacari, traditional Venetian wine bars, the name of which translates into “house of bacchus”, (Bacchus being, of course, the Roman God of wine). Bacari are small, dimly lit taverns, cicchetti and other traditional drinks and snacks of Venice. Cicchetti are often accompanied by an "obmra", which translates to English as "shade". An Ombra is a small glass of wine and is called a "shade" by Venetians because they were originally sold by itinerant traders, who followed the shadow of Saint Mark’s bell tower in order to keep the wine cool.

Venice, a magical city full of history and heritage, has so many customs linked to food. And one of the best ways to discover Venice is to live and eat as a local person.

The local ingredients chosen by Cecilia and Daniela for their guests' foody experienice in Venice were top quality, delicious and very representative of traditional Venetian food: baccalà mantecato (creamed cod), dried tomatoes, robiola (cheese), eggs, herring, soppressa (salami). And, as one of the cooks is also a sommelier, their guests also enjoyed a few ombri with their cicchetti!

This experience was organized by Foody, the platform that gives travelers the opportunity to eat local food with local people. Foody provides travelers with a fabulous experience of culture through enjoying local foods in familiar and warm atmospheres. Our 16 American guests were really impressed by the taste of the food, all the things that they learned about Venice, and the warmth of their hostesses.

This is the Story of How Foody Came to Be:

Foody was co-founded by Elena and Michele, two Italian entrepreneurs who met in Milan. The great idea for Foody came about, as many great ideas do, during a conversation over a plate of pasta. The founders wanted to create something that gave people the opportunity of discover and taste the traditional dishes from the different regions of Italy.

Foody aims to lead travelers, Italian or foreign, on a gastronomic journey through Italy starting with the food on the table and the stories told by the cooks themselves. That is why Elena and Michele advise travelers to, " Eat local with locals": To understand the soul of a city you must always start from the food and from the table .

Coming Up With Foody: The Prosecco Experience!

We are in the Country of Prosecco; Also known as the "Prosecco Road"

Through the Veneto, runs a 120 km road lined with beautiful vineyards. It starts from the Conegliano Castle and runs to to Valdobbiadene.

Here is an opportunity to have a great food & wine experience!

During the Prosecco Experience you will have:

A Vineyard Tour

A taste of 5 different types DOCG Prosecco accompanied by delicious Cicchetti

All these things within a beautiful wine company in the hills of Vittorio Veneto - Treviso

Start: from 5 pm

Saturday, July 23rd

Prize: 25,00€ per person

Book: info@foodyexperience.com

If you also have the passion for local food and would like to arrange a Foody Experience similar to the cicchetti making class, the prosecco experience, or even a delicious lunch or dinner in a local home in Venice or the Veneto, write to: info@foodyexperience.com. The Foody team will organize a wonderful Foody Experience for you!

What to do on a beautiful sunny day in Venice? My advice, though I'll admit that being a wanderer comes very naturally to me, is to just hit the streets and follow your bliss. In Venice, that just means to indulge the little voice in your head that asks "whats over there?" every time you look around a corner. Take every turn that speaks out to you and see where you end up. The truth is that, lost or found, it really doesn't matter where you are in Venice. There is something around every corner. That's how I spent my day today…not looking for anything whatsoever, just seeing what I found.

What I found first was the Basilica of San Pietro di Castello. OK, yes, I have found it many times before, but today I went inside! Not only did I go inside, I also had the entire place to myself which is an extremely rare pleasure in any historic building of Venice. I felt blessed! And I only arrived there when I did because I spent the morning taking every turn that called out to me between Campo Sant Angelo and L'Isola di San Pietro di Castello.

As Venetians say: You have to "go inside" to discover the best things in Venice. I discovered the bust of Lorenzo Giustiniani, the first Patriarch of Venice! Not a bad find. :-)

My good fortune for the day continued when I happened to glance to my right as I was walking down the Frezzeria on the way home to Campo Sant'Angelo. Osteria Da Carla looked warm, inviting and totally out of place in the neighborhood. So, in I went. Though I half expected to be greeted with the 6-euro-al-banco half sandwiches that other "bacari" sell to tourists in this neighborhood, I wasn't just pleasantly surprised, I was completely blown away by both the food and the service there. The cicchetti revolution continues! Da Carla they've elevated it to an art form almost as contemporary as their decor. Rissoto wrapped in smoked fish atop sepia polenta with mint? Thank you very much!

Meanwhile, and this is rare in Venice in general and almost unheard of near Piazza San Marco, the staff at Da Carla spoke with me in Italian rather than switching to English the moment they heard me butchering their language. They do speak English and they knew I am American, yet they intuited that I preferred to try to speak with them in Italian and so gave me that opportunity even if it meant that it would take that much longer to communicate with me. I appreciate that more than I can say ladies!

Da Carla is taking the top spot in our Cicchetti Spots section and I'll be back for both the snacks and company!

One of the saddest mis-impressions that people get about Venice is that the food is no good. It is part of Italy after all! And Venetians are just as fastidious about their food as any other Italians. The truth is that there is lots of wonderful food- fresh seafood, vegetables from the island of Sant'Erasmo, local salumi, local wines, northern italian cheeses, fried zucchini flowers -all available at surprisingly low prices in Venice. So why do the majority of visitors to Venice have such an awful culinary experience? And how can you eat well, even on a budget, during your stay in Venice?

I'll start by telling you an awful truth: There are a lot, a whole lot, of tourist trap restaurants in Venice. These restaurants occupy the spaces nearest the major tourist attractions and tend to be the largest restaurants in town. Sadly these are the places where most tourists eat their meals. During the high season, they serve thousands of meals per day. At that volume of service it would be very difficult to provide haute cuisine. If you want an authentic Venetian meal you will want to avoid these places. So, here are some warning signs that a restaurant may be more geared towards “tourist food” than local cuisine:

There is a laminated menu in multiple languages affixed outside. The cardinal rule of eating while traveling, which also holds true in Venice, is: The more languages on the menu, the worse the food.

There is a sign that says, in English, “Tourist Menu.” While many Italian restaurants offer multiple course lunch and dinner specials, an authentic restaurant doesn't call it a “tourist menu.”

There is a glass showcase of whole fish, wine and plastic plants somewhere near the door. I don't really know why restaurants do this. Nor can I think of a reason why they shouldn't. But, I do know that the whole fish is not on the tourist menu in Venice.

All of the other patrons are tourists. Venetians eat out too! Is there a reason none of them are eating here?

There are one or two waiters, dressed in full livery and entirely too well-groomed, trying to persuade you in off the street...in English. There is a difference between a greeting at the door from a host or hostess, as you would get in most restaurants, and the “I'm surrounded” sensation that you can get from these guys as they smile and wink and shove the multi-lingual tourist menu in your face while steering you around the glass case full of whole fish on ice. Don't be cowed! Walk on bye.

So...where should you eat if the most obvious places are not the best? Start by going on an adventure! Here are some simple tips to help you get on the right track:

Eat like a local. Meaning that you should both eat what the locals are eating and try to eat locally produced foods. (You will notice that at the rialto market the origin of all the produce is listed along with the prices.)

Eat with the locals. Venetians go out to eat too! And they are almost as demanding about the quality of service in a restaurant as they are about the food itself. If a restaurant is crowded with locals, that's a very good sign that you will both eat and be treated well there.

Go inside and then goinside. When Venetians say “go inside”, what they mean is that you've got to explore the side streets to find the best places in Venice. But that only works if, once you're there, you goinside of the small restaurants and osterias you find. The best things in Venice are to be found in the least likely looking places.

And now for the fun part: What to eat! Before you can eat like a local, you need to have some idea of what the locals eat. Get ready and get hungry!

Shellfish. Clams, Mussels and Scallops. Especially the scallops! There is a reason that spaghetti al vangole (spaghetti with clams) is on every menu in town. It's good. But even better is everything made with fresh scallops! In Italian, scallops are: Capesante.

Sarde in saor. Marinaded sardines with onions, pine nuts and raisins.

Fegato alla Veneziana. Ventian style liver and onions. A traditional local dish that you must try in a small local osteria.

Crostini. There is so much more to life than bruschetta! “Crostini” basically are “slices of bread with things on top”, it's what those things are that make them special! They can be virtually anything from the famous baccala mantecata to truffle cream to fresh radicchio salsa. Venice is undergoing a crostini revolution with even the humblest of bacari beginning to offer remarkably diverse and fresh crostini and the more refined making crostini to order with local sausage and fresh fish.

Tramezzini. Tramezzini are overstuffed little sandwiches made with soft crustless white bread. These are the best bet cheap eats for budget travelers, and also just about the only savory food that you'll be able to find prepared in time for breakfast. The ingredients are usually humble- tuna and egg, ham and egg, bresaola and arugula etc...-but they pack a big protein punch and, most of the time, they're made with local foods.

More... There is so much more! There are seafood risottos, baccala and polenta, biscotti, candies, fruits... And, if none of this appeals to you there is always the option to:

Go to the market and do it yourself! Though people complain about restaurant prices in Venice, the prices for fresh ingredients are actually significantly lower than they are in the U.S. Or the U.K.. And there is great shopping to be done in the area of the Rialto market. Even if you just really want to make your favorite recipe from home, the local ingredients you'll find in Venezia will make it taste better.

Hmm…I'm not going to lie, I am starting to feel a little hungry myself! But there are a couple more things that you need to know about dining out in Venezia. Here goes:

If you're traveling on a budget, stand up! Ordering snacks and drinks at the bar is much less expensive that having a meal with table service. And, you certainly won't starve if you rely on finger foods during much of your stay. Much of the food I've mentioned above falls under the umbrella of “cicchetti”. These foods will be on display in glass cases on bar counter tops. Nearly all of them can be ordered over-the-counter and they cost between 1 and 3 euros each.

Read prices to avoid sticker shock; If the prices aren't listed ask before you order. I won't pretend not to know about the three pricing levels that exist in Venice. (And don't you pretend that your favorite bartender back home doesn't sometimes forget to charge you for a round of drinks...) But, I also know that by law Venetian bars and restaurants are required to reveal prices and most of them do. Beyond that, it is your responsibility to read the price lists or ask for prices before you order.

I could go on... Venice is a tricky town! It is replete with masked villains some of whom are, no doubt, out to trick you out of your chance to sample the best local treats. But with this information you're probably pretty well armed and ready to eat in Venezia!